A late Lawrence Shankland goal sucker punched Hibs in the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road.
A frantic start to the game saw both sides miss penalties, after a VAR check for a Rocky Bushiri handball in the opening minutes, Hearts star man Shankland hit his penalty off the outside of the post to the delight of the home support.
That seemed to set the game into life and a few minutes later Hibs would have a penalty of their own, Kye Rowles blocked a Dylan Vente shot with his hand and Jon Beaton pointed to the spot.
Hibs own star man Martin Boyle stepped up, but his effort was superbly saved by Zander Clark who tipped it onto the post.
After the action-packed start to the match, it did eventually die down, with both sides lacking real quality and struggling to find a final pass, the first half petered out goalless.
The second half began the same way the first ended, however as the game progressed, Hibs did begin to create half chances.
Some brilliant passing play got them up the park on occasions, but they failed to take any opportunity to score.
Vente had a good chance as he found himself open at the back post after a Boyle cross, but his shot was saved by Clark, who made a number of good saves throughout the evening.
As the game looked to be heading for another Derby draw, Shankland struck for Hearts.
Rocky Bushiri failed to clear a long ball, and it fell to the Scotland international who drove into the box and superbly bent his shot into the top corner past the helpless David Marshall.
His goal sparked pandemonium in the away end, as he won the Edinburgh derby in the most dramatic fashion.
Ultimately, Hibs will rue their missed chances, particularly Boyle’s penalty kick, however, in a game that Joe Newell coined their most “important” of the season, too many Hibs players failed to rise to the occasion and stamp their mark on the game.
Post match Nick Montgomery said: “I thought we nullified their threat a lot for whole game. It was just one moment. I’m angry and frustrated for the players, because I don’t think they could have given me any more effort.
“It’s a tough one to take, my first loss at Easter Road. It’s probably the worst game to lose, that hurts and that’ll be a feeling for a long time.
“You have to give credit where credit’s due. We just didn’t manage to put the ball in the net tonight, but I can’t fault the boys effort. It’s small margins and tonight one mistake and one moment of quality that was the difference.”
Masters Student currently studying Sports Journalism at Edinburgh Napier University.
